Health Technology Wales (HTW) is a national body working to improve the quality of care in Wales. It is funded by Welsh Government and hosted within NHS Wales but independent of both. HTW covers medical devices, diagnostics, procedures, psychological therapies, models of care, and social care support, excluding pharmaceuticals.
HTW uses a staged process of assessment by developing three types of documents. Anyone can suggest a topic, and HTW also performs active horizon scanning. The topic exploration report (TER) aimed to assess whether there is enough available evidence to proceed with a full appraisal and whether the topic meets the appraisal selection criteria. Based on the TER conclusions, HTW's Assessment Group decides whether to progress this topic further. If yes, the following two documents are developed: Evidence Appraisal Report (EAR) and Guidance (GUI). Recommendations are not mandatory; the status of HTW guidance is "adopt or justify," meaning that the local health board and other relevant bodies are expected to report on how they have considered the appraisal and guidance. If they have chosen not to adopt HTW guidance, they are asked to outline their rationale and justify their decision.
No appraisals for Medtech were completed in January-February 2023, so no Evidence Appraisal Report (EAR) and Guidance (GUI) were published.
Sixteen Medtech-related Topic Exploration Reports (TER) were published in January-February 2023, for which HTW will not proceed to develop full appraisals. Some of those topics are provided below:
- Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) for locally advanced exocrine pancreatic cancer;
- Leadless cardiac pacemakers for bradyarrhythmias due to contraindications for conventional pacemakers;
- Active middle ear hearing implants for complex hearing conditions;
- Gracilis free-functioning muscle transfer (FFMT) to restore upper limb function in brachial plexus injury;
- Ex-vivo lung perfusion for advanced pulmonary disease;
- Percutaneous implantation of pulmonary artery pressure sensors for monitoring treatment of chronic heart failure;
- Stereotactic radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia.
See the full details here.
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